Virucidal effect of povidone iodine on COVID-19 in the nasopharynx: an open-label randomized clinical trial
Mostafa Kamal Arefin, S K Nurul Fattah Rumi, A K M Nasir Uddin, Sultana Sahana Banu, Mala Khan, Ahsanul Kaiser, Joybaer Anam Chowdhury, Md. Abdullah Saeed Khan, Mohammad Jahid Hasan
Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, doi:10.1007/s12070-021-02616-7
Povidone-iodine (PVP-I) is a time-tested antiseptic agent with excellent virucidal (99.99%) properties. Repurposing it against coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a relatively newer concept and has been sparsely tested in vivo. The most common route of entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) is the nasopharynx. Averting colonization of the virus could be one of the best options to reduce the incidence of infection. PVP-I gargle and mouthwash were found to be effective in vitro rapid inactivation against SARS-CoV-2 on a smaller scale (Hassandarvish et al. in BDJ 1-4, 2020, Pelletier et al. in ENTJ 1-5, 2020). However, efficacy in humans is lacking. To assess the virucidal effect of PVP-I against SARS-CoV-2 located in the nasopharynx was the objective of this parallel armed randomized clinical trial. We screened all RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases aged 18 years and above with symptoms. Written informed consent was obtained before randomization. Nasopharyngeal clearance of SARS-CoV-2 was tested after single time application of PVP-I nasal irrigation (NI) at diluted concentrations of .4%, .5% and .6% and PVP-I nasal spray (NS) at diluted concentrations of .5% and .6%. All groups were compared to the corresponding controls (distilled water). The primary outcome was viral clearance in a repeat RT-PCR (qualitative), and the secondary outcome was the number of adverse events. Final data analysis was performed using the statistical software SPSS (Version 20). A total of 189 confirmed COVID-19 cases were randomized into seven groups: 27 patients in each group. Of all, 159 (84.1%) were male, and 30 (15.9%) were female. We observed a statistically significant proportion of nasopharyngeal clearance with all strengths of PVP-I NI and PVP-I NS compared to the corresponding controls. Additionally, 0.5% NI was significantly better than 0.5% NS for viral clearance (p = 0.018) and had the highest nasopharyngeal clearance among all & Mostafa Kamal Arefin
Author contributions MKA had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Conception of the research idea: MKA. Research design: MKA and MJH. Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: All authors. Drafting of the manuscript: All authors. Critical revision of the manuscript: All authors. Statistical analysis: ASK, MKA and MJH. Administrative, technical, or material support: AKMNU, MK and SSB. Supervision: MKA, SKNFR, and MJH. The authors read and approved the final manuscript. Funding The trial received research partial grant from BRICM.
Data Availability The corresponding author has access to the alltrial information, and the data will be available on reasonable request (contact: dr.jahid61@gmail.com or arefin61dmc@gmail.com).
Declarations Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Ethics approval
References
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